The Top Five Reasons Why Hydroponics is Great for the Environment

Updated on March 1, 2016By Tamala Sidener Comments Off on The Top Five Reasons Why Hydroponics is Great for the Environment

Whilst growing plants and vegetables the traditional way – in soil, outdoors, under the sun – has been hailed as the more “natural” way to go, growing with hydroponics has been lauded as the way of the future, due to its many particular advantages. Not only does hydroponics allow you to grow greater crops with better yield, it has also been proven to lessen your environmental footprint. Here are the top five reasons why hydroponics is a great choice and beneficial for the environment:

1. No need for pesticides

Ask any farmer or outdoor grower, and they will tell you the same thing: they simply can’t do without pesticides. By growing indoors, however, your plants are not exposed to environmental factors and bugs or pests that can destroy your crops. Hence, there is no need for harmful pesticides that destroy the soil and can destroy wildlife as well.

2. Less space required

It is all too true that millions of acres of natural habitats have been destroyed to make way for farmland, destroying trees and the habitats of wild animal life. On the other hand, growing indoors, hydroponically, can be done anywhere (in a cellar or attic, for example) and requires only 50% of the land area compared to growing outdoors. In fact, even less horizontal space is needed if you decide to grow vertically.

3. Less fertiliser use

Growing indoors allows you to control the environment of the plants, and your use of fertiliser, like everything else with hydroponics, is scientifically determined and specifically measured for optimum results. What’s more, you are sure your fertiliser is used by your crops, and not outdoor weeds. Hence, you only need about 60% of the fertiliser for a hydroponic setup that you would normally need for growing outdoors.

4. You save water

As with fertiliser, the water you need and use is measured carefully, not merely sprayed on land to be absorbed by whatever else might grow in the field. When growing outdoors in a field, most of the water seeps away in the soil, while water indoors is used only by the plants and can even be recycled for future use – in fact, you need only 10% of the water in a hydroponic setup of that which you would need outdoors.

5. Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions

Areas that do not have the benefit of fertile soil need their food shipped in because they can’t grow outdoors and need to import it. This requires tonnes of fuel and creates a lot of harmful emissions. By employing a hydroponics system, however, you eliminate the need for the transportation of food, hence reducing the carbon discharge. You save the quality of the air as well.

There are many more benefits of growing with hydroponics, and people are very conscious about the environment and helping nature – as they should be.